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the invitation to cut

I remember discovering this poem once, which evoked that particular kind of feeling – a cross between pain, nostalgia and something else – that is akin to the feeling you get when you put your tongue into the place where your tooth used to be. This was many years ago. It was a … Continue reading

Author : nike

GenreCon Australia

I hope you’ll be attending GenreCon this year — it’s going to be an amazing event, with a rich and diverse program of panels, discussions, workshops, debates and other wonders. I’ll be making two ‘official’ appearances. The Joy of Writing workshop will take place from 1:30 – 5:30 pm on … Continue reading

Author : nike

DIY Mentorship, Week Two: A Map

“Maps are essential. Planning a journey without a map is like building a house without drawings.” [Mark Jenkins, The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure] This is the second in a series of posts designed to help you focus your writing. Last week, your homework … Continue reading

Author : nike

DIY Mentorship, Week One: Assessment

Not everyone wants or needs to work with a mentor, but many writers feel the need to refocus their writing practice at some point. This is the first in a series of posts that, together, will comprise a kind of DIY mentorship. The DIY mentorship isn’t designed to replace a … Continue reading

Author : nike

On reading Anne Frank/On censorship

When I was staying in Amsterdam, I visited Anne Frank House. It was a quiet January morning. I arrived early and wandered through the exhibition, which includes both introductory material about Anne, her family, and the other inhabitants of the Achterhuis during the war, the attic rooms themselves, and (once … Continue reading

Author : nike

Three Act Structure

I’m not a huge fan of three act structure if it’s talked about as the ONLY structure available to writers or other creators who work with narrative, or – as in this TED talk created by the educator Matthew Winkler – people say that it’s a universal mythic structure that … Continue reading

Author : nike

Rie Cramer

Dutch writer and illustrator Marie (Rie) Cramer was born in what was then the Dutch East Indies (Java) in 1887. Her father was often at sea, and two of her older sisters were sent to school in the Netherlands in the 1890s. By 1896, however, Rie, her sister Erna, and … Continue reading

Author : nike
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Diane Arbus / the space between

The foam photography museum is on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. Recently, I went there to see an exhibition of photography by Diane Arbus, the American photographer. The exhibition is laid out over several floors, with narrow stairways leading up and down between rooms. This is not a museum for anyone … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 2 Comments
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